so you like YA?! discussion

Join Hannah and me as we read the Selection series together! :)

Schedule

The Selection
May 1: Ch. 1-8
May 2: Ch. 9-16
May 3: ch. 17-25

The Prince
May 4: Ch. 1-6 (extended Version has 8 Chapters)

The Elite
May 5: Ch. 1-8
May 6: Ch. 9-16
May 7: Ch. 17-24
May 8: Ch. 25-31

The Guard
May 9: Ch. 1-6
May 10: Ch. 7-11

The One

For Chapter numbers of the novellas I used the versions from The Selection Stories: The Prince & The Guard, I'm not sure, if Chapter numbers might differ in the ebook versions. And hopefully I'll finally have The One on May 11! :)

ill try to keep up

The first time I read Selection and Elite, it only took me a day per book lol (I want to read carefully this time though!)

@Humi
Great, that you'll join us, too :)

May I join? I've been meaning to read the series but haven't found the time

LittleMissJunior 03 (Tia) ~Property of the CNTP~ wrote: "May I join? I've been meaning to read the series but haven't found the time"

Sure :) At least in my opinion this series is one of the best I've ever read! :) (I only read it once though and naturally I don't know the end yet lol)

XD I heard good and bad things about this series so I'm excited to form my own opinion ;)

This book is so cute <3

You guys are reading it just in time! The One comes out May 6th :D

I'll read this one with you guys! I've read The Selection already, so I'll join you with The Prince onwards.

@Rachel I'm only re-reading before The One comes out, so I won't miss any details! :)

@Maddison That's great :)

Yeah lol I'm excited as.

I wanna join too :)

Selection Chapter 1-8
(view spoiler)[I really hate Aspen for being so stupid :( And America's mother is kind of horrible, always wanting money >.<
I got an idea though:
America mentioned somewhere, that Ilea didn't have a princess for a while and it's horrible for them to be married somewhere etc., so as a selection sequel it would go like that: America and Maxon get married and get a daughter. But I think the selection series will probably have a more surprising end XD (hide spoiler)]

@Hannah
(view spoiler)[I'm expecting more dystopian like the rebels kill the king and the system is reformed or something like that XD I'm actually not expecting The Selection process to end normally, but who knows? (hide spoiler)]

Maybe I won't be able to read this just yet sorry.

Maddison wrote: "Maybe I won't be able to read this just yet sorry."

:(

I'm sorry Jasmin but you know how behind I am in everything!

Leave the other stuff behind, The Selection is the best series anyway! lol

1-8
(view spoiler)[Okay I don't like Aspen. He says he loves her and then he goes and tells her that they would never work. He then proceeds to have his arms around another girl right after they broke up. That's just wrong right there. If he truly loved her then he would be willing to make things work. Okay I get that she got chosen but still. She could have lied on some of the answers and then been disqualified so they could still be together. Ugh sorry had to get that rant out XD
I can see that happening Jasmine with the king but I really hope that the author comes up with something more original than that. I don't like it when an author has this amazingly original idea and then chooses not to execute it that well.
I look forward to reading today's chapters :) (hide spoiler)]

Yeah I read the first one and really loved it but I have so much to read and I'm getting unnecessarily stressed. :(

*sighs* I'm on chapter 5. I'm trying to catch up with you guys, since I read really fast maybe today I can. One can hope :(

I just finished chapter 16...I'll finish the book when I finish all my school work later :) I have a feeling it's only gonna make my three star list

Yeah me too haha. But I always just end up returning my books anyway because I have no time.

I actually hate the king, so I won't mind him being dead lol

Chapter 9-16
(view spoiler)[I think Kiera Cass is really good in making her characters cry/writing sad scenes. because I just couldn't stop reading during America's explanation about Aspen, even though you know everything already at that point lol
It's a little bit sad America's and the other's clothing and hairstyle isn't described more :( How do her maids look like? I think I never saw a real description like hair color. (hide spoiler)]

I also see a three star in this book's future. Every time America says 'I'm not pretty' or 'I wont be picked' I wanna throw this book out of window!!! And I already hate Aspen too much :(

@Tamara I think her behaviour is understandable though. There is a caste system and she belongs to one of the lowest castes (even the lowest in the selection) and Fives aren't supposed to be pretty, they are supposed to blend with the background. I imagine them to be a little bit like the Abnegation from Divergent lol(Did you read that one?), because they always only wear grey (fives are only allowed khaki) and blend in the background,too.
So someone, who grew up in an environment like that(I can imagine some fives to be treated like trash by twos or threes), probably never has a lot of self confidence.

Jasmin wrote: "@Tamara I think her behaviour is understandable though. There is a caste system and she belongs to one of the lowest castes (even the lowest in the selection) and Fives aren't supposed to be pretty..."

@Jasmin Yes I've read Divergent and and the caste system is probably the only reason I havent throw the book out of the windows so far. I get that there is a explanation but the fact that pretty much all the YA girl are like this makes me mad! If hottest boy in town says you are beautiful that must mean something, right? At least blush or something. I cant believe I miss girls who blush *sigh*

I'd have understand her better or felt sorry for her (so far I'm on chapter 5, remember) if we were shown the reasons for her behaviour but no, we are reading between the lines. Telling and showing is different things in my book. I hope she does get better!

@Tamara
That's now just my overall assumption, but maybe it's like that:
As you stated above a lot of girls in YA books are like that, so my first suspicion is: It's probably related to the genre. So who reads YA novels? i don't know exactly, but I think their target audience is somewhere from 12-18.
And a lot of girls in puberty have issues with the way they look (it can range from too fat when they are actually alright to horrible hair, pimples... and so on lol), so since you are older you might think: "Why does she think she is plain, when everyone tells her she is pretty?", but a younger person might think "I can totally relate to her, I always feel like that, too!" without requiring a further explanation.

So I'm not saying it's good for a explanation not to exist, but it's a commonly used thing in YA and might really work (otherwise a lot of authors would do it, right? At least I hope so lol)

Hannah wrote: "Jasmin wrote: "@Tamara
That's now just my overall assumption, but maybe it's like that:
As you stated above a lot of girls in YA books are like that, so my first suspicion is: It's probably related..."

Jasmin wrote: "@Tamara
That's now just my overall assumption, but maybe it's like that:
As you stated above a lot of girls in YA books are like that, so my first suspicion is: It's probably related to the genre. ..."

While I get what you are both saying (also totally agree) and would have loved reading that kind of book these YA books are not written like that. Thats why I said 'Dont tell me, show me!'. For example, show me she actually doesnt have ANY confidence on her apperance, show me why, show me HOW IT AFFECTS HER! Dont tell me she doesnt think she is not beautiful. Show me her inner thoughts about that (more than page or one chapter so it wont just disappear). I'd rather read that kind of thoughts than her lusting after a hot guy for entire book.

If a girl think she is ugly that affects her but is any YA girls (for most of the time) heavily affacted by that? Most of the time, no. They suddenly get popular, they suddenly get together with a hot guy and SUDDENLY all that troubles go away.Just like that.We dont see the development, we dont see the heroine dealing with that; what we see is the end result. And in my book it feels cheap using it that way, it is a lazy writing, a YA cliche. This is the reason why I didnt enjoy reading The Girl of Fire and Thorns.

So what I'm saying is; I dont get mad that these cliches are used, I get mad at the way they are used.

Actually a description of how she is pitying herself, would kind of get on my nerves. lol (like half to a whole page just with inner thoughts about stuff that is bad o.O)
And I have to admit I never realised America thinking she is not pretty. (Maybe that's only in the first chapters? I only remember it happening one time.) And when she says she won't stand a chance of winning the selection I kind of agree with her, since her odds are horrible.

And for the second thing you are bringing up: There isn't any instant love in this book either O.O And I actually liked The Girl of Fire and Thorns :( I also wouldn't call it lazy writing, it's more fairy tale inspired: There a prince saves a princess, they fall instantly in love with a kiss and live happily ever after.. and no one ever criticizes that, right? It's like that in those novels, too, and it's not called "suddenly", but "love at first sight" :) And for the suddenly popular etc. it's probably wishful thinking, you finally get popular without doing anything for it lol

Jasmin wrote: "Actually a description of how she is pitying herself, would kind of get on my nerves. lol (like half to a whole page just with inner thoughts about stuff that is bad o.O)
And I have to admit I neve..."

Oh I was talking generally you know, I didnt mean to say there was any insta love here ;) And the reason why I didnt like The Girl of Fire and Thorns was the way the heronie being fat and then suddenly not being fat handled, not her falling in love so suddenly ;) The way all of her insecurities suddenly goes away after she loses weight kinda bothered me because it seemed unreal!

Tamara wrote: "Jasmin wrote: "Actually a description of how she is pitying herself, would kind of get on my nerves. lol (like half to a whole page just with inner thoughts about stuff that is bad o.O)
And I have ..."

She walked like 3 weeks or so with not a lot food through a desert on her feet, I think anyone would take off a lot of weight, if they suddenly ate less, go from zero activity to walking all day and probably not get enough water either.
And I think she was insecure, because she was fat. For example: People talked about her weight behind her back and so on. So she didn't want to talk in front of people, since she was intimated. What would they say afterwards about her? And so on. (And in fact I think that was described pretty clearly, but I don't remember exactly what happened lol)
So everything kind of adds up: walking through a desert, being held a hostage, taking off weight.. It would be weird if she hadn't changed at all.

But we are going off-topic here lol

Jasmin wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Jasmin wrote: "Actually a description of how she is pitying herself, would kind of get on my nerves. lol (like half to a whole page just with inner thoughts about stuff that is bad o..."

Yeah so sorry about that guys,hahaha Jasmin maybe we should continue discussing this elsewhere even though I really like hearing your thoughts about this ;) I loved the fact that she was feeling so insecure in the beginning so thats why it bothered me so much when she lost weight that away. All that talk about being fat and ugly and feeeling bad because of that and then her problems go away like that? By walking in the desert? It felt cheap. No development, it just happens.So suddenly all of her insecurites go away. I actually explained it better at my review..I think...oh well so sorry guys for going off topic,please dont be mad :D

Tamara wrote: "Jasmin wrote: "Tamara wrote: "Jasmin wrote: "Actually a description of how she is pitying herself, would kind of get on my nerves. lol (like half to a whole page just with inner thoughts about stuf..."


I'll send you a message later :) Got to buy some stuff now, otherwise I won't have food tomorrow >.< lol

Hannah wrote: "Not mad lol, i enjoyed reading both of your thoughts on these things. :)

I think you may enjoy this book more once you have gotten farther into it tamara, unless you already have ? Lol. Like Jasm..."

I've finished it :)

Selection chapters 1-25 (view spoiler)[I definitely enjoyed this book a lot. It was better than I expected and it did get better :) However, her relationship with Aspen in the beginning, the way she was acting with him and when he shows up again how they re-kindle their relationship made me really mad. Not just because I'm a Maxon shipper but I think America is a more interesting character when she is with Maxon. I really felt Aspen was an ass for coming back after all the things he said, how dare he? Seriously he is the reason why America is there! I liked that America told him she wanted to focus on the Selection, though. I get she still loves her but I just wish she moves on on the next book!

Also, like I said America did get better. Her frustrating 'I'm not pretty' comments suddenly disappeared. I agree with Jasmin, it was a bit let down when things like dresses and other girl's apperances werent described at all. We need more information beside the hair color!g (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 17-25
(view spoiler)[I love the scene when America tells about her first time meeting Maxon on the report :) (hide spoiler)]

I'll probably skip the Prince, since I already read it twice just recently and in my opinion it isn't THAT great lol (I like the Guard though)

Jasmin wrote: "Chapter 17-25
[spoilers removed]

I'll probably skip the Prince, since I already read it twice just recently and in my opinion it isn't THAT great lol (I like the Guard though)"

Hahaha I've laughed so hard in that scene. It was so cute :)

I probably wont read Prince also because I already did. I cheated and read it before (last year) ;)

I read it last year and when I bought The Selection Stories: The Prince & The Guard in February, so yeah it's not so long ago :) (so I probably cheated more than you! lol)

The Prince
(view spoiler)[ I liked it. Reading from Maxon's POV was kinda cool. Although that whole love thing with Daphne was kinda ridiculous if you ask me xD (hide spoiler)]

Jasmin wrote: "I read it last year and when I bought The Selection Stories: The Prince & The Guard in February, so yeah it's not so long ago :) (so I probably cheated more than you! lol)"

I feel better now :p

Elite Chapter 1-8
(view spoiler)[Somehow I never know what to say about this book/series. I wanted to write a review for Selection, but I'm still sooo undecided what to write lol
Well.. now something about Elite:
I want Aspen to be gone >.< And Maxon and America are sooo cute together! :) Still nothing happening though (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[ I'm enjoying it slightly. The only problem I have is America. She needs to make up her damn mind. I mean yes she told Maxon that she would be with him and that she chose him but there's still that part of her that wants aspen and if she hurts Maxon I will seriously rip her heart out >.< (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 9-16
(view spoiler)[I think America acted a little bit too selfish here. What was Maxon supposed to do? Marlee broke the law and no one should be above the law. (Otherwise it wouldn't be effective lol) Even if it was unfair, Maxon can't spontanously change the way things are done. So in my opinion America should stop acting like it was his fault. After all both Marlee and Carter knew what would happen to them. :(

Aspen is still annoying, I totally prefer Maxon, even though I hate him flirting with other girls. I want him to be with America!!

Two rebel attacks right after another is kind of surprising (probably two different groups) and I wonder what the scene in the woods meant o.O (hide spoiler)]

Hey if anyone wants an ebook copy of The One I can email it to you :D

I'll send it when I have free time at school! You can accept epubs right?

LittleMissJunior 03 (Tia) ~Property of the CNTP~ wrote: "Hey if anyone wants an ebook copy of The One I can email it to you :D"

Wow, that would be really great Tia! You've just made my day :)

:D just gimme your email and I'll send it to you!

LittleMissJunior 03 (Tia) ~Property of the CNTP~ wrote: ":D just gimme your email and I'll send it to you!"

[email protected]

Thank you!!! You're the best :D

No problem guys! :D

I'll get my copy today, yay! :) So I'll probably finish Elite today and start reading!! :)

I actually like having a real book more than just an ebook, but that's probably because I already have The Selection, The Elite and The Selection Stories as books. I even bought a hard cover of The One :)